Voyager's Children (1 of 3)
by Altra Palantir
Summary: Fifteen-year-old Miral Paris can't wait for the *surprise* vacation her parents have planned to celebrate her admittance to Starfleet Academy. What happens when her parents and brother are taken hostage by a group trying to restart the Maquis rebellion?


Disclaimer: Paramount owns Star Trek, and all of the characters, who were first created out of the minds of the talented directors, producers and writers working there, basing everything, as I do, on an idea from the genius of Gene Roddenberry.  
  
Miral Paris was looking forward to the vacation her parents had planned. It was the last real trip she would take before she started at the Academy in the fall. Being only fifteen, she would be much younger than average, but not unusually so. She was looking forward to starting her Starfleet career as soon as possible. She didn't really have much left to do, her clothes were packed, not only for the vacation, but also because she was leaving the private school she had recently graduated from. She had and her friends had all gone to the same school for the past four years, and most of them were going to the Academy with her, so she wasn't going to miss them too much.  
  
It was almost time for her to transport home, and she was wandering the halls impatiently. She had found out about the trip by accident, from her younger brother. It was supposed to be a surprise, and he had sworn not to tell Mom and Dad that she knew, but Miral knew better than to rely on that. Patrick had an unfortunate habit of blurting things out.  
  
The plan had been for the rest of her family to go ahead to Rubikat in their shuttle; they left last night after the graduation ceremony. Miral had said she wanted to have some time to say goodbye to her friends. Admiral Paris, her grandfather, would meet her at her house, and take her there when she got home this afternoon. Patrick would have almost an entire extra day there, but Miral didn't mind. Most likely he'd go swimming all day and be completely sunburned by the time she got there.  
  
It was almost 1640 hours when Miral finally transported home. She expected to see her grandfather waiting for her, impatient to leave, but he wasn't. She went upstairs to set her stuff down in her room. Admiral Paris was almost never late. Something really important must have distracted him.  
  
"Computer," she asked, "When was the last time Admiral Paris was here?"  
  
"Admiral Paris was in this building earlier this afternoon," it replied.  
  
"What time did he leave?" asked Miral, puzzledly.  
  
"'Precisely 1538 hours."  
  
"What's so important that he couldn't have waited an hour? Or wouldn't be back in an hour?" she wondered.  
  
The beeping of her view screen interrupted her train of thought. She turned around, to see that Admiral Janeway was hailing her. Relieved, she sat down at her desk and opened the channel. She didn't like the expression on the Admiral's face.  
  
"Admiral?" she asked, "what's going on?"  
  
Kathryn Janeway sighed; there was no easy way to tell Miral what she had to. She didn't regret volunteering to tell the child, though. Miral would handle the news best from her, and even Admiral Paris knew it.  
  
"Miral, your parents had planned a vacation on Rubikat, and they left yesterday afternoon…" she began.  
  
"Admiral, I knew about the trip, what's going on? Has… Has something happened to them? Where are they?" she interrupted, beginning to grow nervous.  
  
"Miral! Please calm down." Janeway sighed, "I'll admit this isn't easy, your family has been captured, taken hostage, it seems, by a hostile group of terrorists that claim to be former Maquis."  
  
"What!" Miral shrieked.  
  
What could former Maquis want with her family? Miral didn't know that there had even been any former Maquis, except for the ones who had been on Voyager. The Maquis resistance had been stopped several years before she was born. Most of them had died before they were arrested and incarcerated. Any who were both alive and not in prison had to have left the Maquis before then. Why would they now want to restart the resistance? And how was her family involved? It hit her suddenly. B'Elanna Torres had been one of the former Maquis on Voyager, and her father had also been in the Maquis, albeit briefly, and they were both Voyager crewmembers, in a shuttle, nearly defenseless. Perfect Targets. The Admiral saw the look of horror spread across the girl's face.  
  
"Miral?…" she asked.  
  
"Computer, transport me to Starfleet Headquarters, Admiral Janeway's office." Was the only reply she received before Miral materialized in front of her. "We have to do something." She begged.  
  
"Calm down. We have a team working on it right now, and your grandfather is going to send a ship to find them.  
  
"No!" Miral shrieked, "That's exactly what they want! Mom and Dad were both former Maquis, and they were also from the famous Voyager Crew! Everything they are or were doing is working against them! We need to take a small group of people on a shuttle to rescue them!"  
  
"I know this is hard for you, but you just have to be patient. Starfleet will handle it."  
  
"Admiral, don't you see that's what they want? They're trying to re- start the rebellion, and they want Starfleet to attack them. It's a sympathy tactic. It will make the Federation's enemies more likely to join them. If we send a shuttle, with only a few people, we just might be able sneak my family out without them noticing. Let them have their rebellion, as long as they don't have any hostages to bargain with. Please Admiral."  
  
To her surprise Janeway smiled. Her momentary shock lapsed into anger.  
  
"Admiral!"  
  
"You remind me of your mother so much sometimes. I can see her doing the same thing in your place." Janeway replied.  
  
Miral stared in utter disbelief. "What?"  
  
"Well not anymore, of course, but you have to remember I was her Captain long before you were born. You are so much like she was twenty years ago." She smiled again. "All right. I'll argue your case at our next meeting. Your grandfather will never let me hear the end of it, but we'll try. If there is anyone you would like to ask, I'll want a list on my desk, but this mission is strictly volunteer. I have an idea of several people who'd like to come myself."  
  
"I understand, Admiral. Thank you."  
  
Miral grinned. She bet the "volunteers" she knew were herself and Captain Chakotay. She had the list finished by the hour and stood at the Admiral's desk, waiting as Janeway reviewed it.  
  
"Miral, you do know that Captain Chakotay has already volunteered for this mission, as have I."  
  
"Yes ma'am."  
  
"And you still are requesting for Seven of Nine to come as well."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"This might as well be a family reunion rather than a rescue mission." She commented sarcastically, "I'm afraid I can't ask her to join us. She is currently in the midst a deep space mission and is much too far to come."  
  
"I understand, are there any other problems?"  
  
Janeway shook her head. "I'll see to it that both Lieutenant Icheb and Ensign Wildman receive your request. Dismissed."  
  
Miral sighed. She was well aware of Seven and Chakotay's former relationship. She turned toward the Admiral and leaned on her desk.  
  
"Will Tirnel and Ashtor be coming with us?" she asked.  
  
"I guess so. I'm not about to leave the two of them home alone indefinitely," Janeway shrugged as she stood up, report and coffee in hand, "Why?"  
  
"May I be placed in charge of coming up with our strategy, right?" Miral said boldly.  
  
"I suppose you can work out your own strategy, If you want to. Starfleet will probably have their own, though." Janeway replied, taken aback.  
  
"If your sons come, I think I already have a plan."  
  
"Well then, I guess they are."  
  
"Thank you, Admiral."  
  
"I'll see you at 0800 hours tomorrow morning, Miral, you'd better start planning," and with that the Admiral walked out the door.  
  
Miral's gratitude soon turned to frustration. She had easily found her parent's warp trail, they had taken the Delta flyer, and Miral was very familiar with the shuttle. Her father had bought it when she was little. With a little more work, Miral had been able to locate the ship that had tractored them in. The only thing both she and Starfleet had started out with was a fuzzy distress signal her father had sent out during the attack. They were deep in Ferengui space. That's where Miral had gotten stuck. They couldn't go in a Starfleet shuttle, it would be too conspicuous, especially with Admiral Janeway who was probably the most recognizable Admiral in Starfleet. Anyone they encountered would recognize her. There would be seven people on this mission, so they'd need a rather large shuttle, but not one that was overly large, or they'd attract attention. She wished she knew someone she could contact, to see Starfleet's take on the situation.  
  
Miral wished she could ask her father. Tom Paris enjoyed redesigning spacecraft. This would be a challenge he'd enjoy. Then it hit her. She walked outside to her father's "garage" where he kept his shuttles. The one he had given her for her birthday was closest to the door. She couldn't pilot it until she got her license in about a year. As she looked over it she realized it would work with a few modifications. It wasn't new, but it was large enough for several people. Perfect for a lost family… That was it! If they were stopped, they could pose as a lost family on vacation. Ashtor was adopted anyway, so it didn't really matter that Miral was part Klingon. Many adopted children were mixed species anymore. Tirnel was twelve and Ashtor was nine, so they were close enough to her age to be her "little brothers."  
  
It was half-truth. Any Ferengui vessel that stopped them would probably believe their story, as long as they didn't recognize Janeway or Chakotay. The only problem was that Tirnel was actually Janeway and Chakotay's son and it would be odd that the middle child was the only biological one, though not by either of his parent's choice or intention.  
  
About two years after Voyager returned to Earth, Janeway and Chakotay were on an away mission. A genetic scientist, , kidnapped them and then stole a few strands of their DNA for an experiment. He was trying to create an artificial environment for a fetus, and for that he needed a baby to test the experiment on. Later, during an investigation, the baby was discovered. Janeway and Chakotay had decided to move in together and raise him. The investigation had come shortly after Chakotay's break-up with Seven, and had been viewed as "irrational" to put it mildly. They later adopted Ashtor from an orphanage on Kronos. His biological parents weren't known, as was his species. It was later determined tat he was a mix of at least a dozen Alpha quadrant species. The family was rather strange in origin, so Miral didn't feel that she'd stick out all that much.  
  
Miral had a habit of letting her mind wander and she needed to concentrate now. Her family was still being held hostage by angry terrorists, and she wasn't any closer to bringing them home than she had been an hour before. Miral knew that on this mission they'd need weapons, but she didn't have any means of getting them. What she could do, was activate all of the systems needed, so that either Janeway or Chakotay could get torpedoes and phaser banks and load it. It was nearly 0200 hours before she put the finishing touches on her shuttle, but rescuing her family was more important to her than sleep.  
  
"So, this is our ship?" Chakotay asked, "A regular Tom Paris specialty if I do say so myself."  
  
"What's her name? Janeway chipped in.  
  
"She doesn't have one yet Dad… Dad said I could pick it out. She's mine, or will be when I'm allowed to fly her." Miral replied, trying not to falter.  
  
"What was it you were saying you needed?" Janeway asked, still looking over the shuttle.  
  
It was just after 0800 hours and they were preparing to leave. Miral had told them about her need for weapons, and they had come to help her install them. Everyone was trying to be cheerful, though Miral knew they were as worried as she was. They were both rather protective of her and her family, feelings, which had carried over from their being her parents' commanding officers on Voyager for so long while they were in the Delta Quadrant. It was one thing to study about Voyager in school, and another to think about the fact that the people she was studying were her parents and their friends. As Miral thought about it, Janeway had once served under her grandfather, and Chakotay had been the Commander of her mother's Maquis ship. She had forgotten those details, and she was angry with herself for it, though she knew she really shouldn't be. Janeway and Chakotay were probably the most likely to succeed at this mission than anyone else, except maybe Commander Harry Kim, her father's best friend, but he probably wasn't even aware they were being held hostage, yet. She forgot all about Chakotay having also been former Maquis when Ensign Naomi Wildman burst through the door.  
  
"Sorry I'm late. Icheb contacted me a few minutes ago. He said something had come up, and he wouldn't be able to make it in time. He was really apologetic…" she explained as she came in.  
  
Chakotay chuckled. "That's okay, There isn't that much room on the shuttle anyway."  
  
Miral was disappointed, another twist in her plan. They'd manage without him though, and she was anxious to get going. It had been originally decided that Chakotay would pilot, Janeway would navigate, Naomi at Ops and Icheb at tactical. Miral would now be at Ops and Naomi at tactical. Miral was somewhat relieved at the way they worked out the situation. She liked and was better at Ops anyway.  
  
It was a nice shuttle, especially for a teenager's first, though it wasn't the best one her father had. He had begun collecting them a few years ago, despite her mother's protests. When Miral had shown an interest in piloting, he jumped at the excuse to buy yet another shuttle. Her mother had refused to let him, he already had fourteen, and there wasn't space for another. He gave up after a few days, and had surprised her with hers, which was the one he had bought most recently, for her fifteenth birthday, a few months ago.  
  
Miral wasn't sure where her shuttle had come from, only she wasn't ever Starfleet, nor new. Dad liked old ships, as well as things from the twentieth century. He even had a positively ancient car from the late twentieth century, a 1999 Ford Explorer; he called it, and had already spent almost two years rebuilding the engine to present day standards. With any luck he might be able to finish it. She sighed. How long would it take to find them, and in what shape would they be? Her face clouded as she started actually worrying for the first time. The reality that hadn't quite sunk in yesterday chose now to do so. She found herself fighting tears.  
  
Tirnel walked towards her on his way back to the aft section. Unlike Miral he had no interest in "bridge work" as he called it, and had decided to sit in the back and read. She tried to turn away, but he still saw her face.  
  
"Don't cry, Miral, remember you're Starfleet. We'll get them back," he tried to reassure her as he walked past.  
  
"You're right. She mumbled to herself, nodding in agreement. "I'm Starfleet." And so are they. She added silently.  
  
They traveled at warp 5 until they reached Ferengi space. As they approached the border, they slowed to impulse only. Miral was glad she'd had the foresight to request weaponry. They traveled for nearly an hour before being detected. A Ferengi trade ship hailed them. Ashtor came running in to see. Tirnel soon followed, extremely curious, but too "Starfleet" to show it.  
  
"Open a channel!" Miral exclaimed. "We're lost remember?" she glanced at Janeway, who nodded.  
  
" Do it," she replied.  
  
"Whoa… breathed Ashtor, in fascination at the sight of the Ferengi leader.  
  
"Tirnel, would you mind taking your brother to the back and playing a game of Cadescot, or something?" Chakotay asked, then added quietly, "he might get in the way."  
  
Tirnel grinned, "Sure Dad. Hey Ashtor, C'mere. I bet you couldn't beat me at a game of Cadescot."  
  
Ashtor scowled and looked at his parents. Chakotay nodded.  
  
"We'll see about that," he exclaimed, following his brother.  
  
Making sure their parents weren't looking, Tirnel let the door open, but didn't walk through it. Instead he motioned for his brother to sit down beside him and be quiet.  
  
"If we don't say anything, they won't know we're here," he explained, in a whisper.  
  
The Ferengi commander waited, disdainfully through their conversation. He wasn't as old as Naomi, so he was probably commanding his father's ship. From the uncertain look on his face, this was probably his first command assignment  
  
"I'm sorry about that," Janeway began.  
  
"What are you doing in our space?" he asked sharply.  
  
"We're lost, Janeway replied. " We were heading to Rubikat,"  
  
"When we apparently got off course," Chakotay finished for her, "Would you mind giving us directions? I'm sorry to have bothered you."  
  
"Hmm… Depends on who you are," He replied eyeing them. "Who are you?" he demanded.  
  
"Well then," Chakotay replied, "I'm Chakotay, this is Kate, our daughter Miral, the boys are our sons Tirnel and Ashtor, the younger one, and this is our niece Naomi." He gestured to each in turn. "Now about those directions?"  
  
"We wouldn't be lost if they'd let me navigate," Miral whispered to Naomi, just loud enough for the Ferengi to hear.  
  
Janeway turned and scowled at her, obviously trying to contain her amusement. The Ferengi looked at her for the first time.  
  
"You're part Klingon," he recognized, glaring suspiciously at her "parents."  
  
"I'm adopted, thank you, and so's Ashtor." She replied angrily. Miral cringed inwardly. Chakotay had given his own name! The man was a young Ferengi, but that didn't give him any reason to let his guard down that far!  
  
Janeway looked relieved, Chakotay cleared his throat.  
  
"Ah, yes the Star charts. Dagnar! Chart a flight path out from here, and transmit it to their ship," he ordered.  
  
A second ship decloaked off their port bow and transported an armed Romulan and two Bajorans onto their shuttle. Ashtor cried out and ran towards Janeway. Tirnel stood and froze at the sight of the weapons.  
  
"You really should be more careful where you get lost, Admiral," smirked the Ferengi and he closed down the channel.  
  
Once on the Maquis' ship they were surrounded by Maquis security, all armed with phasers. The Romulan, who appeared to be the leader, gave the order to tractor Miral's shuttle into their docking port, for further inspection, along with the Delta Flyer.  
  
Miral couldn't believe their luck, either way. They were captured, which was definitely not good, but her family was also being held on the same ship. Did that mean that there was only one? The Romulan ordered them taken to the brig. Angrily Miral lashed out at one of her guards. He stumbled, and she grasped for his weapon. Before she could wrench it out of his hand, someone else shot her. Everything went black.  
  
When Miral awoke she found herself propped up against a stone wall with her hands bound above her head. When she tried to move the pain in her stomach, where she had been hit, and her shoulders forced her into her original position. Wincing she looked up at her hands and saw a sharp rock protruding out above her head.  
  
"What is this?" she mumbled, "someone's idea of a joke?"  
  
After some careful thought, and several tries, she managed to force the rope binding her hands to the wall over it. She began grinding the rope back and forth over the sharp edge, using it as a blade to free herself. She pulled down hard to cut the last threads and hit herself with the force as they snapped. She groaned, and then realized that her feet were bound as well, over her boots, so therefore not as tightly, but enough so that she couldn't pull herself free. She reached toward her left boot, where she had slid a small diamond-glass knife as a precaution. No one had bothered to check them for simple non-metallic weapons.  
  
B'Elanna Torres sat, with her hands and feet bound as well, against an adjacent wall. She squinted in the dim light to see who the other person in the cell was. The girl was bent over, working at something, and B'Elanna couldn't get a good look at her face. She saw the glint of a knife blade, and realized the girl was freeing herself. As she shifted positions to stand, B'Elanna caught sight of her face. It was her daughter Miral.  
  
"Miral!" she exclaimed.  
  
"What?" her daughter replied, her eyes not as well adjusted to the light, and so not quite sure who was calling her. It took her a moment to for it to register as her mother. "Mom?" she asked, incredulously.  
  
She half crawled across to where her mother was, and quickly cut the ropes binding her. She sat down, shocked, and flipped the knife to cut her hands free. She rubbed her throbbing wrists as the circulation began to come back to them.  
  
"What are you doing here?" B'Elanna asked, "and since when do you carry a knife?"  
  
"Ever since I started going on dangerous rescue missions," She replied sarcastically.  
  
"By yourself!" B'Elanna shrieked.  
  
"No. I'm not stupid. Where is everyone else?" she answered, looking around the room.  
  
"Who's everyone else?"  
  
"Well besides Dad and Patrick, Admiral Janeway, Captain Chakotay, Ensign Naomi Wildman… Tirnel… and… Ashtor." She finished, as she keeled over in pain, clutching her stomach.  
  
"What happened to you?"  
  
"Fighting back. They shot me just before I got a hold of some guy's weapon. Hope he's in as much pain as I am."  
  
B'Elanna smiled. "Who was it?"  
  
"I don't know any of their names. The tall pathetic looking Bajoran."  
  
Her mother rolled her eyes. "He probably deserved it. Now what exactly happened?"  
  
"Okay, well, I kind of found out about the trip, and so I knew Grandfather was supposed to be waiting for me, but he wasn't. So I asked the computer if he had been there, and it said he'd left about an hour earlier, so I thought he'd had important business and would be back. It was weird though. He's almost never late for anything. I went to set my stuff in my room," she paused, so much for secrets. B'Elanna waited expectantly. "Then Admiral Janeway hailed me and told me that your shuttle had been taken by a group of former Maquis. I wanted to know more, so I transported myself to her office."  
  
Her mother smirked. "Glad we live so close."  
  
"Yeah. I talked her out of letting Grandfather send a starship." She replied.  
  
"That is what they had hoped." B'Elanna replied.  
  
Miral grinned with relief. She was afraid she had made a mistake in convincing Janeway to use her plan, now though the mission had gone wrong, she had assumed right.  
  
"I stayed up almost all night planning strategies and then modifying the shuttle. I tried to sleep but how could I?"  
  
"I hope you didn't use one of Tom-your father's shuttles." B'Elanna scolded, with mock horror.  
  
"No, I used mine. The plan was to sneak through Ferengi space, nice allies they picked, and then pretend to be a lost family on vacation, to buy some time if we got stopped. It was supposed to be a stealth hit and rescue. Unfortunately we didn't get that far. The commander of the ship that stopped us got a little suspicious and did a background check. Then he called in the resistance. I think the forehead ridges did it." Miral grinned, "Although Admiral Janeway is probably the most recognized person in Starfleet."  
  
Her mother turned away. Miral didn't notice and continued.  
  
"Strange family we must have made. I wonder what that Ferengi was thinking when he opened the channel."  
  
B'Elanna smiled weakly. "why are we here and they're not?" she muttered to herself. There was a pause.  
  
"Or is it what are they that we are not?" her daughter replied. Miral knew she had to think up something quickly. Her mother wasn't about to stay here doing nothing, like a sitting duck, and neither was she. The problem was, what exactly could they do? She absentmindedly found a rock and threw it in disgust. When it hit near the ceiling the walls distorted as if something had been disrupted.  
  
"What was that?" B'Elanna asked.  
  
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out."  
  
She moved to the wall below where the rock had hit. The rocks were large enough for her to get a grip. She slowly climbed up the four meters to where the rock had hit.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" B'Elanna exclaimed, somewhere between concern and fury.  
  
"Climbing. It's awfully hard to see something two and a half meters above your head. Besides, this just might be our way out of here," she grinned.  
  
"You sound like Tom-your father." B'Elanna retorted.  
  
"Funny, everyone else says I remind them of you."  
  
B'Elanna smiled. Miral found the cause of the disruption. It was a panel. She hit her wrist on the side of it as she pulled the cover off. She groaned in pain. Apparently she hadn't healed as much in the past hour or so as she thought. "Ignore it, Miral, you're Starfleet. More than that, you're Voyager," She muttered to herself.  
  
"What was that?" B'Elanna called from the floor  
  
" Nothing, Just something Tirnel told me on the way here. Watch it, I'm going to drop this cover panel," she replied.  
  
She looked at the grid as soon as the cover was out of the way. It was a holodeck control panel. Miral gasped in surprise. Her mother looked up.  
  
"Mom, you're not going to believe this but we're on a holodeck."  
  
"A holodeck?" she exclaimed in disgust. "Are you sure?"  
  
"Where else would a hologrid be? I'm not deactivating it, though, I'd fall. The holodeck wall is the only thing I have to hang onto up here. Would you like to see for yourself?" she asked innocently.  
  
"Thanks, I'll trust you on that one." B'Elanna replied sarcastically. Miral grinned and climbed down, being careful to watch where she put her injured hands.  
  
"How are you doing?" her mother asked her as soon as she got down.  
  
"I'm fine. You know what, finding that Hologrid is probably one of the best things we could have done," Miral replied optimistically.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"At least we know we're still on the ship. That means that Dad and Patrick and the others should be near by."  
  
She sat down and hugged her knees to her chest. She felt something in her pocket and pulled it out. Her commbadge. She grinned.  
  
"That's it!" she exclaimed.  
  
"What?" her mother asked.  
  
"My commbadge. We all brought them. Habit, I guess, and mine was in my pocket. I saw Captain Chakotay hide his inside his shirt just before the Ferengi came. Do you think you could reconfigure mine to tap into his? You know, like a bug," she said.  
  
"A what?" B'Elanna asked  
  
"Oh. It was something Dad explained to me, really old Earth technology. A bug is a little device that people in spy movies would slip into someone's clothes or hair, or hide in a room, and use it to listen to confidential conversations. If we could do that, then we might learn something that would help us," Miral explained.  
  
"Oh." B'Elanna rolled her eyes. "I think I could, if I had something to work with."  
  
"All we have is my knife, unless you brought a set of tools with you." Miral replied. She pulled it out. "Here. I think the point of it is small enough to work."  
  
She handed her mother both the commbadge and the knife. B'Elanna began toying with the device. After a few minutes they heard faint voices at the other end.  
  
"There," she said finally. The voices were still faint, and a bit muffled from Chakotay's jacket. Miral was a bit disappointed.  
  
"Can you compensate for it being in his jacket?" Miral asked.  
  
"Yes, hold on though… there." B'Elanna whispered. "That should work now. Don't say anything too loud, because they'll be able to hear us too." Miral nodded.  
  
  
  
"Where the hell do you think you're taking my son?" Tom shouted from the other end.  
  
"Tom, please!" Chakotay shouted, and from the sound restraining him.  
  
"Your son and the others are being taken back to Federation Space. A starship has negotiated for their release," one of the Maquis voices sneered.  
  
"How do we know you're not lying?" Chakotay asked.  
  
"Yes, I was wondering that myself," Admiral Janeway added.  
  
The man groaned arrogantly. "The children have no reason to be here. They are being sent home."  
  
"We want proof." Chakotay demanded.  
  
"I thought you might not cooperate. Bergen. Open a channel to the Starfleet ship. Visual and Audio. See for yourself, but watch the forcefield,"  
  
"They're in the brig." Miral whispered.  
  
"What do you want now? I thought you agreed to release the children and Ensign Wildman!" shouted Commander Harry Kim.  
  
"We have. Please explain that to your dear friend Mr. Paris. He will not cooperate." the man replied sarcastically.  
  
"This isn't a trick Tom. I swear," Harry replied.  
  
"All right… we believe you." Admiral Janeway replied.  
  
Miral and B'Elanna listened as the released prisoners were herded out of the brig and transported to Harry's ship.  
  
"Harry, Tell B'Elanna and Miral not to worry." Tom asked quickly.  
  
"They haven't been released yet, Tom…" Harry replied, puzzled.  
  
"Goodbye, Commander, I suggest you leave with your people immediately," The man said abruptly. "You have what we've agreed for." The connection was shut down.  
  
"What!" shouted Tom, "Where are they?"  
  
"Tom, calm down." Chakotay warned.  
  
"Dammit, Where are B'Elanna and Miral?" Tom shouted again.  
  
"That is none of your concern." The man replied coldly.  
  
"Where the Hell are they?" he screamed.  
  
"You shouldn't be asking questions, when you don't need to know the answer." The man replied again. Tom screamed in agony.  
  
"Tom!" shouted Admiral Janeway and Chakotay at the same time."  
  
"Dad!" shrieked Miral.  
  
B'Elanna clapped a hand over her daughter's mouth.  
  
"They'll hear you," she replied cringing.  
  
Miral nodded, seeing her mother was as upset as she was, possibly more. "What are we going to do now?"  
  
"I don't know," B'Elanna replied. She picked up her daughter's commbadge and closed the link. "First we have to get out of here."  
  
"There's no way out unless we shut down the program, and we can't do that without setting off an alarm, and probably falling four meters and injuring one of ourselves. We have no weapons, except my knife, no food, unless they bring us some, and no way of contacting anyone, save Chakotay, who is in much the same situation."  
  
B'Elanna shrugged. "Do you know where the shuttles are?"  
  
"The docking port. They tractored our shuttle in next to the Delta Flyer," Miral replied, "Why, Do you know how to get there, without being seen?"  
  
"I'm thinking," her mother replied, "If we do get there, do we have weapons?"  
  
"The Admiral and I stocked our shuttle, but I'm assuming the Delta Flyer is empty."  
  
"You're right."  
  
"Dad can out maneuver any of them, and we'll cover for them. What do we do next?"  
  
"I'm not sure. You should get some rest."  
  
"How could I?"  
  
"We need more information before we can do anything. Besides, you're injured, and you've hardly slept in two days."  
  
"I'm fine."  
  
"No, you're not."  
  
Miral rolled her eyes. It was better not to waste time and energy arguing with her mother. She moved back over to where she had originally been sitting, in case anyone decided to check up on them while she was asleep. Then she thought of something. The fact that her parents, and Admiral Janeway, and Chakotay were being held made sense. They were either former Maquis, or from Voyager, or both. Their captors had spent the last twenty years hating them, but why hadn't she been released with the others? True, she was born on Voyager, but she had only spent the first few hours of her life there, and she was definitely too young to be Maquis. Logically, if she was to think like Captain Tuvok, she was almost useless as a prisoner, and not that much to negotiate with. It didn't make that much sense to her as she drifted off to sleep. Maybe it was because she fought back. It didn't matter though; she could take care of herself. She was part Klingon, and she was Starfleet, and most importantly, she was Voyager.  
  
It took Miral a few moments to remember where she was when she awoke. She groaned. It wasn't much lighter than it had been several hours ago. Sitting up, she looked around for her mother.  
  
"Mom?" she called, stretching.  
  
B'Elanna looked up from what she was working on. "Yes," she replied. Miral walked over and sat down.  
  
"What's our status?" she asked.  
  
"I wish I could take a look at that hologrid panel." B'Elanna sighed.  
  
"Couldn't you…"  
  
"There is no way I could climb those rocks. I've tried," she shrugged.  
  
"Do you think there's a way I could program a way for you to get up there, say a ladder? The systems aren't that different from the ones at home, and I've played with them enough." Miral asked, her eyes brightening.  
  
"Wait. What if someone detects you?"  
  
"Would they actually watch those systems?"  
  
"Probably not, but just the same, be careful."  
  
"I know. I'm not any good to anyone fried," she grinned.  
  
After a few minutes, Miral managed to program the ladder in. It materialized a little more than a meter to the right of the panel. She paused for a minute, when no alarms went off and no guards rushed in, she grinned back down at B'Elanna.  
  
"Mom, I got it, but you'll have to move it towards me to get to the panel, I'll hold it at the top," she explained. She held onto the wall with one hand and steadied the ladder as her mother moved it with the other. "Okay," she called, "you can come up now."  
  
She waited for B'Elanna to climb up, and watched silently as her mother analyzed the panel.  
  
"This technology is at least fifteen years out of date," B'Elanna grinned after some thought.  
  
"It's that old?" Miral asked, staring. If this ship was that old, it would be one thing to their advantage, and an advantage they needed.  
  
"I think so. I've tapped into the sensors, and re-configured them to replay the last ten minutes, in case they decide to check up on us."  
  
"So we can end the program?"  
  
"As soon as you get down," her mother replied. "The ladder will be the only thing that remains. There should be a panel near the floor on the opposite wall, see if you can set the prison program to restart in three minutes, and deactivate the ladder after I'm down."  
  
Miral nodded, and climbed down, as her mother shut down the program. She began to access the holodeck controls.  
  
"Miral," Chakotay called through her badge, "Miral respond."  
  
She pulled it out of her shirt; "I'm here."  
  
"Are you alright?"  
  
"A bit sore, but I'm fine, How's Dad?"  
  
"He has a bit of a headache from our captors… how did you know I'm with him?"  
  
"Long story. Tell you when I've got the time."  
  
"Where are you?"  
  
"I'm being held on another part of the ship, not sure where."  
  
"Are you alone?"  
  
"No, actually I'm being held with my mother. I haven't seen any guards since I got here.  
  
Tell Dad she's alright, I know he'll worry. Hide your badge. Don't let them know you have it."  
  
"I will"  
  
"Miral out."  
  
"Miral?" B'Elanna asked, climbing down, "what was that?"  
  
"Chakotay. He wanted to know what had happened to me."  
  
B'Elanna nodded. "How's Tom-your father?"  
  
"He's alright. I guess things sounded rather worse than they are," Miral replied.  
  
"I guess."  
  
Miral finished her task. "Are we ready?" she asked, beginning to get nervous.  
  
B'Elanna closed her eyes for a moment, then nodded, "Yes."  
  
She opened the door. Two guards rushed in, phasers in hand. Miral quickly sedated one with the skill of any Vulcan. B'Elanna hit the second as hard as she could and took his phaser. As he struggled to regain it, Miral knocked him out as well.  
  
"Let's go," she said, taking the other man's phaser.  
  
"Where'd you learn to do that?" B'Elanna asked incredulously.  
  
"Tuvok."  
  
They started towards the docking port, but were soon seen by several Maquis. They fired, and took off running as the alarm was sounded. They were three decks below the docking port. Seeing more security down the corridor, B'Elanna pulled her daughter into a Jefferies tube. Luckily, they encountered no one else before reaching the docking port.  
  
"Mom, my shuttle's over there."  
  
"What about Tom and the others?"  
  
"We can transport them to the Delta Flyer from inside. Come on. There aren't any shields out here."  
  
"Fine."  
  
They ducked in just as the Romulan and two other men walked in, armed to the teeth.  
  
"Told you so," Miral grinned. "Don't worry, I locked the door."  
  
"Can you contact Chakotay?"  
  
"Give me a second. As soon as I establish a link you need to get a lock on their biosigns and transport them to the Delta Flyer," she replied.  
  
The Maquis apparently hadn't spotted them yet, but hadn't given up searching. She contacted Chakotay.  
  
"Are you guarded?" she whispered.  
  
"No, Why?" he replied, curious.  
  
"Hold on. We're going to get you out of there."  
  
"I can't get a lick on all three of them. Admiral Janeway is too far from the signal." B'Elanna reported.  
  
"Transport the other two." Miral replied, hesitantly.  
  
"What?" her mother shrieked.  
  
"Chakotay, drop your, badge, Now." she commanded. It dropped to the floor. She gestured to her mother to initiate transport. B'Elanna did.  
  
"What about The Admiral?" she questioned.  
  
'We'll get her next. Chakotay has left his commbadge in the brig. We have to get them out of here before the rebels can react. Trust me."  
  
Miral hailed the flyer. "Get out of here."  
  
"Where's Kathryn?" Chakotay yelled, angrily.  
  
"We'll get her. That's why I had you drop your badge. Now go!" Miral explained.  
  
"Damn, do you have to be so stubborn, Chakotay?" B'Elanna muttered. "Tom, just go, or you'll get us all killed."  
  
"She's right, you don't have any weapons. Go, please." Miral pleaded.  
  
"All right."  
  
They powered engines. Their captors began firing on both shuttles. Luckily Tom had immediately raised his shields. A few Maquis quickly realized this, and took off in pursuit.  
  
"Mom, can you get a lock on the Admiral?"  
  
"Almost."  
  
"Admiral, Pick up the badge!" Miral shrieked.  
  
"I've got her!" B'Elanna shouted.  
  
"Let's go, fire on them as soon as we're clear."  
  
"You're piloting?" B'Elanna, shrieked.  
  
"Looks that way to me."  
  
She moved the ship as far as possible on high impulse. The Maquis began firing.  
  
"Admiral," she called, "do me a favor, and scan for any Federation vessels."  
  
"You're piloting?" Admiral Janeway stared in disbelief. "but you're too young, and..."  
  
"I've not lived with my father all my life and learned nothing." Miral grinned.  
  
"Shields at thirty percent." B'Elanna reported. "They've fired a full spread of torpedoes."  
  
Miral rolled the shuttle easily out of the path of the torpedoes. If she didn't look, Admiral Janeway could believe it was Tom Paris himself flying the shuttle. They were hit, and shields were knocked off line.  
  
"B'Elanna, your console is overloading. Get out of the way," warned Janeway.  
  
"Just one minute."  
  
"You don't have time!"  
  
"Mom!" Miral screamed. She lunged at her mother, pushing her out of the way, and getting hit by the pulse herself. It hit her in the center of her back. She screamed as it seared through her skin, the force throwing her across the cabin. She landed hard on her shoulder. She gasped and instinctively rolled to her other side.  
  
"Miral!" B'Elanna shrieked.  
  
"I'll be okay," she grimaced, "Admiral, go to warp."  
  
"What about you?" Janeway asked.  
  
"Get us the Hell out of here!" Miral shrieked, in as much pain as anger. It was all the coercing Janeway needed. B'Elanna, however, stayed by her daughter's side.  
  
"Mom," Miral gasped. "I think I shattered my shoulder."  
  
"You did. We need to get you to some sickbay quickly."  
  
"I know," she whispered. "I can't feel my legs."  
  
"Hold still. How do you expect me to treat you if you keep moving?" the Doctor scolded.  
  
"Doc?" she asked, "What are you doing here? Where am I?"  
  
"Relax, you're on the Rhode Island. That Poloron burst took a nice piece out of your spinal cord. Its no wonder you couldn't move."  
  
Miral shrugged. "Stop that, I'm almost finished. There. Now if you'll just stay put I'll finish healing those wrists, and the internal bruising from that Phaser burn."  
  
He went to get his Dermal regenerator. Miral took what was likely to be her only chance, and quickly ran out into the corridor. Her shoulder still hurt a bit, but not more than she could stand, and she could walk. Miral ran straight into Captain Tuvok and Commander Kim.  
  
"I am pleased that you are feeling better," Tuvok said.  
  
"What's going on?" she asked.  
  
"Chakotay and your father are just docking." Harry replied. "Would you care to join us? We were headed there." Miral nodded.  
  
Both Patrick and B'Elanna were already waiting, as well as the Admiral, Tirnel and Ashtor. As the two men walked toward them, B'Elanna rushed forward and greeted her husband with an embrace and a rather passionate kiss. Chakotay walked past them, barely containing his amusement. He gave Janeway, who was also suppressing laughter, a small hug, while Tirnel and Ashtor timed them. Patrick looked away, embarrassed. Miral rolled her eyes and grinned. This was exactly what it meant to be Voyager. 


End file.
